Chickpea Banana Bread w/ Chocolate Chips (gluten, dairy, soy and egg free)

I  continue to look for recipes that work for those with multiple food allergies and sensitivities. The hope is always that babies will grow out of sensitivities at least, but in the mean time, having options is important. This is especially true when they have an older sibling can eat anything.  

After much research in wheat flour alternatives (oats are out as well), chickpea flour seemed the best.  It doesn't have a strong taste on its own, and you can sub on a 1:1 basis - 1 cup chickpea flour for 1 cup regular flour. Those tiny specialty bags in the regular grocery store can be expensive, but I several brands selling larger bags on Amazon for a reasonable price. 

Next I searched on Google for chickpea banana muffin recipes and found several, but the one below from Ambitious Kitchen stood out.  I still had to change it up as my grandson can't currently have egg or milk products either.  Fortunately my daughter told me about an egg substitute that has worked well for her Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer. I wanted to add mini chocolate chips as well, but they had to have no dairy or soy. I lucked out when I found the Enjoy Life Mini Chips at Sav-on.

Below is the recipe I made. The original recipe is for banana bread and includes eggs. I wanted toddler size muffins, so used mini-muffin tins and was able to make 24. This means it should make 12 full size, or one loaf of banana bread. No idea what the cooking time is for regular muffins, but I included the timing for the loaf below. The only thing I will change check time is the amount of oil. I found the finished muffins a little oily.  Outside of that I am really happy with how they turned out. 

Enjoy! And if you make them, let me know what you think.

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Chickpea Banana Bread w/ Chocolate Chips (gluten, dairy and egg free)

Ingredients -

3 med.                Over ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/3 cup mashed banana)
1/4 C                  Pure maple syrup 
2 T                     Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer powder

4 T                     Water
1/3                     Olive oil, coconut oil or vegan butter (I will reduce this next time)
2 tsp                   Vanilla extract
1 tsp                    Apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 C               Chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour)
1 tsp                    Baking soda
1/2 tsp                 Cinnamon
1/4 tsp                 Salt:
1/2 - 3/4 C          Enjoy Life Mini Chips (Free of Milk, Peanuts, Tree Nuts & Soy. Gluten Free)

Other options - 

1/2 C                  Chopped walnuts or pecans
1 C                     Blueberries
1 C                     Shredded coconut

Instructions -

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 mini muffin trays, 1 regular muffin tray or Line an 8x4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. NOTE - If one allergy you need to avoid is SOY you cannot use Pam. It has soy lecithin in it.  There are other options now in spray - avocado, olive and occasionally coconut oil sprays. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together chickpea flour, baking soda, dry egg mix, cinnamon and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine bananas, honey/pure maple syrup, eggs, olive oil, vanilla extract, water and apple cider vinegar; mix until well combined and creamy. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in mini chocolate chips plus any other additions.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Baking times will vary. They suggest 40-55 minutes for a loaf and then cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before removing from pan. My mini muffins were done in 10-12 minutes.  Not sure the timing for full size muffins, probably 15-20 min. Test with at toothpick to be sure they are cooked. 

I let my mini muffins cool slightly in pan, and then removed carefully using a small spoon to loosen as I didn't have non-stick pans, so it was tricky getting them out whole.